Whetstone leads young squad

Fifth-year senior captain Catherine Whetstone is optimistic that
the Rutgers swimming and diving team can get back to where it was
in 2006-07.

In that season, the Scarlet Knights claimed their second
consecutive runner-up finish in the Big East as Whetstone gained
honorable mention All-American accolades, participating in the NCAA
Championships as part of the 400-yard freestyle relay team and
setting a school record en route to a 14th place showing in the
100-yard butterfly.

Whetstone knows it will take a lot of hard work to get to that
point, but she has been encouraged by the team's performance in
preseason training and practice.

"I think that we have a really, really good squad this year and
there's a lot of depth," Whetstone said. "All the seniors are
looking phenomenal in practice … [and] we had an intra-squad meet a
couple of weeks ago and a lot of the new girls swam really
fast."

The Knights need strong efforts from underclassmen if they are
to improve on last year's fourth place Big East finish. In the wake
of graduating key seniors such as captain Linda Tate and former
100-yard fly conference champion Kasey Kesses, RU's 27 player
roster consists of 17 underclassmen, including 11 freshmen.

Whetstone said it is the responsibility of herself and the other
seven seniors to convey the tradition of RU swimming and diving to
the newcomers. At the same time, Whetstone said she does not
foresee the team's youth being a problem.

"They're just really good workers and there are so many of them
that are really passionate about swimming and diving," Whetstone
said. "It's not that hard because they really want to be
there."

She said head coach Chuck Warner will also help the young team
develop.

In 11 seasons at the helm, Warner collected four Big East Coach
of the Year honors thanks to a 69-28 record.

"In the world of swimming, he's a really, really respected
coach," Whetstone said. "He has so much knowledge in the sport, and
he can really help all the new girls get to a whole new level
[like] he has with the rest of the team."

RU begins the 2009-2010 season this weekend by hosting the SWRC
Invite, beginning tonight at the Rutgers Aquatic Center.

Whetstone said the event serves as a warm-up for the dual meet
the following weekend against Big East foes Connecticut and
Villanova.

The remainder of the pre-winter break slate features home meets
with West Virginia, Wagner and the Galbraith Diving Event, which
the Knights will also play host for.

In between, the team travels to Cambridge for the Harvard
Invitational.

"I just love how the attitude of the team is right now,"
Whetstone said. "If they're confident in what they're doing, we're
going to be a pretty powerful team."